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Sometimes the solution to a problem can inadvertently create an even bigger problem, and Macquarie Island is a case in point. This content is available for download via your institution's subscription. It's a rabbit and that's what she's been trained on. MacQuarie Island is a small island about half-way between Antarctica and New Zealand.

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They have to also learn to behave around the island's native wildlife. It involves a team of helicopters and a pack of elite dogs. MacQuarie Island has been declared rabbit-free and rodent-free after a seven year eradication program. And in the process, some native birds will be killed because of the baiting.

ABC Education brings you free educational resources for Primary and Secondary students - visit now. The base on Macquarie Island sits on an isthmus at the northern end of the island, April 2012. Whether it's the information we share on the internet or our day to day activities. The reality is, the problem isn't going to be solved overnight.

Macquarie Island rabbit problem Scott, JJ , Burch, B and Macnamara, I 2007 , Macquarie Island rabbit problem , 936 AM ABC Local Radio, Hobart and nationally. For any rabbits that survive the baiting, there's a plan b! It is the most important breeding site for the royal penguin, and several other species of penguin also breed there. In turn, this has advanced the idea that RCV-A1 antibodies inhibit RHDV spread as well as reducing disease severity and mortality. 56,514 people are reading stories on the site right now. Contact, Password Requirements: Minimum 8 characters, must include as least one uppercase, one lowercase letter, and one number or permitted symbol, Access Institutional Sign In via Shibboleth or OpenAthens.

Next, we're going to take you to a part of Australia that you might not have heard of before.

This will count as one of your downloads. An institutional or society member subscription is required to view non-Open Access content. In this case, one element of the cost is the 24m Australian dollars ($17m, £11m) that authorities will spend eradicating rabbits and the rats and mice that eat seabird chicks. The rabbits have now caused so much damage to the island's flora that the changes can be seen from space. Tash takes a look. And if you're really good at it, you might have moved on to surfing but did you know that body-boarding is a serious sport in its own right?

The scientists behind the research say conservation agencies must "learn lessons" from the episode. The island community reverted back to its previous state before humans introduced any species. Rabbits! Since the eradication of cats eight years ago there are now an estimated 100,000 rabbits munching the foliage of Macquarie Island, which lies about halfway between Australia and Antarctica. The rabbit population increased tenfold, leading to the consumption of most of the island's plants.

She's telling me there's something in there.

We leave traces of ourselves everywhere.

The removal of cats in 2000 caused "catastrophic" damage to the ecology of a sub-Antarctic island, a study says. The Macquarie parakeet flourished on the island until around 1880, when the rabbit supply allowed the number of feral cats to explode, and the … The first attempt to control them, in the 1960s, involved introducing myxomatosis. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled.

Rabbits were introduced to Macquarie Island in 1878 by seal-hunters to provide food. Sawyer Creek Falls on Macquarie Island, April 2012.

You can even turn pro at it.

It's about half way between New Zealand and Antarctica. But who is this unwanted target of terror?

She's scratching it out wanting to get down to it.

Macquarie Island is a tiny island that's part of Australia.

Macquarie Island's climate is moderated by the sea, and all months have an average temperature above freezing although snow is common between June and October and may even occur in Macquarie Island's summer. But subsequently numbers have grown again.

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), introduced into in Australia and New Zealand as a biological-control agent for wild rabbits, is least efficacious in cool humid areas where a non-pathogenic calicivirus (RCV-A1) also circulates.

Brian Cooke, Keith Springer, Lorenzo Capucci, Greg Mutze "Rabbit haemorrhagic disease: Macquarie Island rabbit eradication adds to knowledge on both pest control and epidemiology," Wildlife Research, 44(2), 93-96, (19 April 2017), Registered users receive a variety of benefits including the ability to customize email alerts, create favorite journals list, and save searches. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Before the year 2000, it was home to approximately 4,000 rabbits. Heavy rabbit mortality following release of RHDV on cold sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, where RCV-A1 was apparently absent, not only complemented the planned rabbit eradication operations, especially by reducing secondary poisoning of sea-birds from aerial baiting, but also ruled out cool or humid climate as a major limiting factor of disease spread. A gentoo penguin on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island stands in front of the Antarctic supply ship Aurora Australis, April 2012. Pest Plan toolkit – part 2 Adaptive fox and rabbit management in agricultural areas; Methods for determining feral goat abundance in rugged terrain; Assessing the Effect of a Reduction in Baiting Rates for Wild Dogs; Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease: Wild rabbits show resistance to infection with Czech strain-351 RHDV initially released in Australia.

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While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Identify how removing the cats from Macquarie Island affected the island's ecosystem. Macquarie Island is way down south close to the Antarctic. It's freezing and has some really amazing wildlife but as Tash reports the Island is under serious threat from some unwanted visitors. You have requested a machine translation of selected content from our databases. "Our study shows that between 2000 and 2007 there has been widespread ecosystem devastation and decades of conservation effort compromised," said Dana Bergstrom from the Australian Antarctic Division. NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: It's a search and destroy mission costing around 25-million dollars. Most of you would have messed around on a boogie board before. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. Some people reckon 25-million dollars is a lot of money to be spending on wiping out rabbits and rodents. Most Popular Now | 56,514 people are reading stories on the site right now. Inside them are poisoned pellets, which are dropped and scattered across the island.

So what's being done about the problem?

That brought numbers down to about 10,000.

Read more. Bauer Bay on the west coast of Macquarie Island, April 2012. Water laps at the shoreline in a bay on Macquarie Island, April 2012.

But the program has received a bit of criticism. Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), introduced into in Australia and New Zealand as a biological-control agent for wild rabbits, is least efficacious in cool humid areas where a non-pathogenic calicivirus (RCV-A1) also circulates. It's about half way between New Zealand and Antarctica. Matt explains. Eradication of rabbits and rodents will involve dropping poisoned bait around the island.

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Visitors to sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island enjoy an Aurora Australis, April 2012.. You would've heard in the news recently about a deal between the Australian Government and Malaysia over asylum seekers.

It'll be their job to track down any remaining rabbits. To access this item, please sign in to your personal account.